A cruise that begins in ... Chicago

[Jason]

A cruise that begins in ... Chicago

Source: David Runk, Associated Press

Caribbean Cruise Line offers eight cruises in early fall, with various itineraries on the Erie Canal, the Saguenay, Hudson River and Lake Champlain.

Great Lakes Cruise Co. offers two fall foliage cruises: round trip from Chicago on Sept. 30, and Chicago to Toronto on Oct. 11. Cruise West has a French Canada/Great Lakes tour from from Chicago to Quebec City, leaving Sept. 11.

DETROIT — A massive freighter towers over the Grande Mariner as the 183-foot-long cruise boat slips past the Motor City skyline en route to Mackinac Island.

By the time the Grande Mariner and its 65 passengers reach Chicago four days after seeing Detroit, they will have traveled through the Erie Canal and four of the five Great Lakes, which with their connecting channels form the largest fresh surface water system on the planet.

It's a journey of contrasts, with stops in reviving Rust Belt cities and quaint tourist towns, and views that range from heavily industrialized stretches of the Detroit River to miles of unspoiled coastline.

The route is rich in history and natural beauty. It's popular among leaf-peppers in the fall, as the boats head into the far northwest reaches of Lake Superior.

Largely dormant since the 1960s as international air travel and tropical cruises increased in popularity and affordability, the Great Lakes cruise tradition began a revival in the mid-1990s.

For travelers accustomed to the massive cruise ships of the Caribbean and Mediterranean, the Great Lakes boats are modest. The pace is easygoing, passengers get to know the crew on a first-name basis, and the scenery along the way — best seen from the top deck — is much of the attraction.

The trip on the Grande Mariner, which is owned by American Canadian Caribbean Cruise Line Inc. and can hold up to 100 passengers, began in the company's Warren, R.I., home port. The boat passed by New York City and traveled up the Hudson River, heading through the Erie Canal and stopping in cities along the way.

After visiting Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y., it headed to Cleveland before stopping in the Detroit suburb of Wyandotte. Many of the passengers got off the boat for an optional tour in Dearborn of the Henry Ford, which includes the Henry Ford Museum, a collection of auto-related and other technological and cultural artifacts.

Others, like Jan Musson, 69, of Goshen, Ky., stayed on board to read a book while her husband, Wick, 71, went on the tour.

The Mussons took the cruise to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and enjoy the chance to relax.

"You don't have to think. It's just very comfortable," she said.

Since the Grande Mariner is so small, it can squeeze through the Erie Canal and dock in smaller communities such as Wyandotte, as well as bigger cities, letting passengers off right in downtown. Cost varies by cabin size, with prices for the 16-day trip ranging from $2,785 to $3,840.

The Grande Mariner spends the summer in Lake Michigan before returning to its home port for fall color tours on the Erie Canal.

Tour options on different lines vary widely. Smaller boats carry up to 18 passengers on cruises that skirt Lake Ontario. And the MV Columbus, a 423-passenger ship designed especially for the Great Lakes, offers 11-day cruises between Toronto and Chicago that spend time in all five Great Lakes during prime fall color season.

On the Columbus, prices range from $2,139 to $6,190 per person, depending on cabin size and trip.

[Dan]

I've looked into these in the past, since we are right in the Great Lakes area, with downtown Toronto less than 2 hours drive. But I'm just not ready to spend that kind of money on a cruise yet. Plus I'm still in the "ship is the destination" mindset, and these definitely don't fit that bill.